National Policing Bill Set to be Transmitted to NASS
ABUJA, NIGERIA — The highly anticipated National Policing Bill is 90 percent ready and will be transmitted to the National Assembly within the next two weeks, according to the Presidential Working Group.
Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Working Group, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Thursday following a steering committee meeting at the State House in Abuja. He described the proposed legislation as “the most consequential Bill of the administration so far,” noting that it has undergone rigorous review since deliberations began on August 3.
“The National Policing Bill is more or less ready for transmission to the National Assembly,” Gbajabiamila told journalists. “We will probably have one more meeting after this to cross the t’s and dot the i’s and make sure every area is covered. The governors have one or two observations, and we should be ready in about a week or so.”
National Consensus on State Police
Addressing concerns regarding the slow pace of state-level approvals for the Sixth Constitution Alteration Bill (State Police)—where reports suggest only six out of the 36 states have passed the amendment—Gbajabiamila dismissed fears of a setback. He emphasized that a strong “national consensus” exists among Nigerians regarding the need for decentralized policing.
“I see no reason why anyone will want to have a rethink on it,” the Chief of Staff affirmed.
The steering committee meeting brought together top federal and state officials to finalize the framework. High-profile participants included AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Kwara State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum; Dapo Abiodun, Governor of Ogun State, and Uba Sani, Governor of Kaduna State.
Others are Tunji Disu, Inspector General of Police, Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba, Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice (representing the Attorney General) and the technical experts, including Justice Abdullahi Liman (rtd), Chairman of the Policy Advisory Committee, and Professor Olu Ogunsakin, Head of the Nigeria Police Reform Secretariat.
The final draft is expected to be cleared after a concluding review meeting next week before heading to lawmakers for legislative debate.
